20 Innovations we'll see in our homes in 2020.

2016 is already upon us, with everyone (including us) speculating what the new year will bring. So let's jump ahead to 2020 to examine the technology and innovations that will be in our homes:

1. Smart windows

Windows will have built in smart sensors and digital panels that allow you to set the levels of light or dark, UV protection, and even scenery just by touching them. The need for window shades and coverings will be obsolete and of course the exterior face of all windows will be equipped to capture and harness solar energy.

2. Computational surfaces

Additionally, mirrors, shower glass, and just about any surface can be made “computational,” accepting our commands by touch screen and customizing our living experience.

3. Solar technologies

Likewise, a good portion of our power needs in the home will come from solar energy by 2020, no matter what the climate. Remember the solar road concept that basically made solar conductors out of paving tracks and materials? It’s a bad idea for roads but a great idea for homes, where roofing materials and even siding will all have solar cells implanted, finally taking us away from non-renewable fuels.

4. Personal 3D printing

Do you need a tool around the house? A part to fix a leaky faucet? Even a custom welcome sign with your address and family name on it? Instead of driving to the store, the average American will be able to just plug in their personal 3D printer at home, download the plans just like we download apps now, make adjustments online, and print these things. Very soon, we’ll be able to print custom clothing, toys, artwork, school supplies, and even medical tech, as the future of 3D printing is exciting and limitless.

5. Holograms

Sure, television screens will get thinner, more clear and interactive (such as with OLED technology already in development), but the NEXT revolution in communications and entertainment will be in 4D holograms, displaying television, video, phone calls, gaming, chats, etc. all in near-life like displays.

6. Closed water systems

Sadly, the UN reports that 75 percent of our world’s freshwater is already polluted. As we become more environmentally conscious and water becomes the most valuable substance on earth, even wastewater from our sinks, showers, toilets, and hoses won’t go to waste. Homes will have complex systems that allow for evaporative water and rain water to be captured, channeled into the system, filtered and used around the house. Likewise, wastewater won’t be expelled but refiltered and recirculated in our gardens, toilets, fountains, and hoses, etc.

7. Fingerprint scan security

“Do you remember back in the day when people actually carried these little metal key things around with them?” That’s what we’ll be saying in 2020, when unlocking your front door will be a matter of placing your finger on a sensor so the system can scan your fingerprints and approve you for entry.

8. Ocular scanning and facial recognition

We’re also likely to see ocular scans and face recognition technology for more advanced security systems, but in 2020, fingerprint security will do just fine for shedding these metal keys.

9. Biofuels

By 2016, the majority of people will be feeding condensed pellets made of waste, organic materials, agricultural byproducts and even garbage into heating and energy systems in our homes, allowing us to get further away from fossil fuels and save money with clean energy.

10. Light Peak technology

Light peak technology is a technology that allows super fast data transfer, eventually allowing us to sync and share terabytes of information in microseconds.

11. Personal computing will only need personal data

Information sharing will allow us to walk around with our own personal “computer” full of files, data, and storage, in a watch, pendant, pen drive or other vehicle, plugging in and accessing any portal in any room, home, business or office, anywhere in the world without relying on personal ownership of devices.

12. Personal food production

Everyone eats, and every home and even apartment has plenty of space to grow food with green roof and green wall growing systems. Spare closets, basements, attics, vertical gardens on the inside or outside of walls, and floating agriculture are all going to allow the average person to grow and consume a significant portion of their food, allowing us to save money, better monitor what goes into our food, and live healthier lives.

13. Shifting walls

Instead of applying a coat of paint when you want to change the color of a room, you’ll be able to program the exact color you want into digital walls and room, instantly turning it the desired color shade, design, or even replicating a scenic landscape.

14. Watch command

Everything in our homes – from entry to security, temperature control, appliances, filtering systems, and lighting, etc. will be controllable and adjustable by touching your watch – whether you are home or not.

15. Gesture Control

Lighting, televisions, appliances, window shading, and many other functions around the house will respond to voice commands and gestures, not with archaic keyboard strokes and mouse clicks.

16. Conversing with the central computer

Likewise, you’ll be able to program every alarm clock, reminder, and appliance with simple voice commands to the home’s central computer, which will unify every electronic and digital function into a single easy to operate system.

17. Light-up flooring and furniture

Just about every surface will have intricate LED lighting systems or digital programming, which means you’ll be able to set your floor panels to light up when you walk on them (making your own disco dance floor) or allow furniture to light up and shift in color like a lava lamp when someone sits on it. Of course, the uses of this technology will have more practical uses like security.

18. Programming based on our heartbeats

Your home’s central computer will be able to read the heart rate and biometrics of the people in the room, adjusting the temperature, lighting, oxygen content, filtering system, and even noise levels to their individual pre-settings. Your home will also be able to detect if someone is sick or unusually angry, anxious, or tired, adjusting the environmental settings accordingly.

19. Storage solutions

With our population set to double by 2050 and the urbanization of living in mega cities, space will be at a premium. Innovative storage solutions that we can’t even dream of will make sure every inch of space in the home – like in the basement, attic, between the walls, etc. is used efficiently – but adaptable and flowing enough for a modern aesthetic.

20. Self-cleaning bathrooms and kitchens

We might not have maid robots in 2020 but the cleaning systems will be pretty self reliant, with intricate sensors and ultrasonic self-cleaning systems installed in the most germ-addled areas of the home like toilets, showers, sinks, garbage cans, water spigots, and on kitchen and cooking counters.

10 Smart tech innovations every modern home needs.

1. Transparent TV

As TVs get bigger, better, flatter, and more crystal clear every year, it’s hard to guess how much farther TV technology can go before we run out of ideas. With this transparent TV designed by Michael Friebe, combining our familiar LCD with the vanguard TOLED display technology, we see that the innovations are far from done.

2. The Ring

Some times, technological innovation comes so fast that it skips a generation or renders brand new products almost obsolete – just think of the mini disc player, portable CD player, and now, maybe smart watches. That’s because the Ring is the first wearable gesture-controlled device. It’s really cool and has plenty of uses around the house since you can program it to close shades, turn lights on and off, and operate your TV. The Ring’s features don’t stop there, since you can get on apps to request an Uber ride or write a note on Evernote. And at $150, it’s even more inexpensive than most smart watches.

3.  Orbital Washing Machine

If you have children and run a household, you’re well aware that the laundry to hamper to washing machine to dryer back to hamper routine is virtually endless. But this brilliant innovation makes it easier and cuts time, allowing you to fill up your laundry basket or hamper right in a globe or orbital device that you simply place in the washing machine when you’re ready to do laundry.

4. 3-Dimensional Wall Panels

This is one of the coolest things you’ll ever see, blurring the lines between functionality and art. Called 3D walls, these panels create interesting shapes, colors, and other design arrangements, turning any mundane wall into a futuristic focal point. The best part is that they’re easy to install and inexpensive.

5. Sony Eclipse

Constantly plugging in your media devices becomes almost obsolete with the new Sony Eclipse media player, a concept invented by Hoang M Nguyen and Anh Nguyen. It’s a media player just like any tablet or iPad, but is lined with photovoltaic cells on its back side, drawing solar power from natural sunlight in the room or against a window, even when it’s in use. 

6. Floor Plan Light Switch

The best inventions always seem to be the most simple, making us wonder why we never thought of it before. Instead of flipping a switch manually every time you enter and leave a room, why not just manage lighting on every room on an entire floor – or your whole house – with this smart LED master panel designed by Taewon Hwang?

7. Facial Recognition Welcome Camera

The Netatmo Welcome is a smart security camera that doesn’t only shoot video footage of who comes and goes from your house, but recognizes your family members and approved friends and others by registering facial recognition. You can program it to give your smart phone a signal every time your children or spouse get home, and if someone unrecognized shows up, you’ll know immediately. The Welcome also let’s you to tap in remotely to see a live stream any time, and this whole set up is only $199 with no subscription service needed.

8. LED Ceiling

Turn your ceiling into a giant smart lightshow, with infinite options for new patterns and designs. Created by Seo Dong-Hun, the LED Ceiling basically transforms your ceiling into a big overhead Light-Brite, as you can “draw” anything on the ceiling in colored lights with a laser pointer.

9.  Electrolux Fireplace

With new environmental regulations, long gone are the days when you can throw a few logs in your fireplace and set it ablaze. But let’s face it, gas fireplaces are better than nothing – but not nearly as charming as the real smoky open-flame experience. For those who live in a home without any fireplace, adding one with permits and gas lines and venting is usually more trouble and cost than it’s worth. But the Electrolux Fireplace, designed by Camillo Vanacore, solves all of that, elegantly creating real flames in a modern display. An opaque ceramic column instantly transforms into a clear vessel for flames.

10. Change It! Wall

This innovation actually isn’t that new, but still a best kept secret among home designers and modern home art enthusiasts. The amazing thing is that the Change It! Wall isn’t digital or based on any technological or computerized optics at all. Instead, it’s a wall panel that’s made with rotating triangles of different colors. The wall shifts and changes into an endless variety of patterns, creating a stunning dynamic and rainbow backdrop for any room.